D&D 5E Let’s Read Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse.

[Leatherhead]

Today, when looking up the monsters online for reference, I stumbled across this:

Which brought up a link to this page:

Legacy Content

Legacy Content Dungeons & Dragons is a game that is constantly evolving. This means that we may revisit older content in order to i...

www.dndbeyond.com

Not too surprising, given that the Digital MP:MotM launches next week, but it is interesting to see how they are doing it before time.

Guard Drake (VGtM)​

The Guard Drake is a Draconic dog-like creature that is created by dragons in a ritual. An egg is formed by putting some meat and dragon scales in a cauldron for a few days, and the first person who feeds a freshly hatched Guard Drake is their master. It’s a relatively simple ritual that has the possibility of the PCs intervening at the last possible moment (or it could have been purposely set up for the PCs) giving them a CR 2 pet. Alternatively you could use them to beef up any dragon cults, kobold clans, or even a village that is under the protection of a Dragon. Guard Drakes can understand the Draconic language, even if they can't speak, which makes them easy to train and command.

There is an optional rule that gives the Guard Drake additional abilities granted from the color of scales used to create it, and I highly recommend using it. Not only do the Chromatic Drakes gain an appropriate resistance, they also gain at least one advanced movement option, which can alleviate some of the inherent problems of using a slow, ground-bound, melee unit without any hands in combat. It is worth noting that these optional variants are one of the primary reasons the book lists 250+ monsters inside instead of an actual number. I will be keeping a tally of all these variant stat blocks, just so I can finally answer exactly how many monsters are in this book.

At medium size, the Guard Drake makes an excellent mount for small humanoids, especially if they have a climb or swim speed, which their rider can use to get into a better position for ranged attacks. The burrowing variants are better when not ridden, as they can use their underground movement to break Line of Sight. Innate resistance allows them to walk around relatively unhindered by the typical hazards that would be found in a dragon’s lair. But otherwise, they simply act like melee brutes in combat.

The Guard Drake was not significantly changed for this book.

 

[Reynard]

To start off with, the Gish is a CR 10 spellcaster, so that means they are going to fill out that CR by using a multiattack that also allows them to cast spells. Their multiattack grants three attacks, and they can trade out two of them for a psionic spell. Their attack options are the Longsword (with a hefty psychic damage rider) or Telekinetic bolt, which is a decent ranged spell attack that deals force damage.

A question that came up in another thread (and it was suggested I ask here): are "spell attacks" spells for purposes of counterspelling (or I guess anything else that differentiates between "spells" and not-spell magic)? Does it say anywhere in the book? Thanks.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

A question that came up in another thread (and it was suggested I ask here): are "spell attacks" spells for purposes of counterspelling (or I guess anything else that differentiates between "spells" and not-spell magic)? Does it say anywhere in the book? Thanks.

They use actual spells.

 

[Reynard]

They use actual spells.

But the "spell attack" abilities aren't from their spell list. They are a specific ability

 

[MonsterEnvy]

But the "spell attack" abilities aren't from their spell list. They are a specific ability

Sorry I misunderstood. In this case no you can't counter spell them.

There are spell attacks and weapon attacks. A Spell Attack is just an attack roll comes from something magical in nature, while a weapon attack uses a physical weapon.

Here an example of a spell attack.
Sorcerer’s Bolt. Melee or Ranged Spell Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 60 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d12) force damage.
These are not new to the game and have been in since the start. Many Cantrips have you make ranged spell attacks for example.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Sorry I misunderstood. In this case no you can't counter spell them.

There are spell attacks and weapon attacks. A Spell Attack is just an attack roll comes from something magical in nature, while a weapon attack uses a physical weapon.

Here an example of a spell attack.
Sorcerer’s Bolt. Melee or Ranged Spell Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 60 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d12) force damage.

They are very clear on what is a spell and what is not a spell in the new rules. The thing is, many of the not-a-spells used to be spells a few months ago, so expectations are off, and immersion is in danger, since there's no in-fiction explanation for the changes.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

They are very clear on what is a spell and what is not a spell in the new rules. The thing is, many of the not-a-spells used to be spells a few months ago, so expectations are off, and immersion is in danger, since there's no in-fiction explanation for the changes.

There does not need to be.

 

[Micah Sweet]

There does not need to be.

Hard disagree. What is and is not a spell has no fiction reasoning, and that's a problem for me and my players.

 

[Sulicius]

Hard disagree. What is and is not a spell has no fiction reasoning, and that's a problem for me and my players.

Then just wing it. You’re an experienced DM. You can call a spell school and spell level for them, and let them be effected by the 5 abilities/spells in the game that care about them being spells.

 

[Leatherhead]

A question that came up in another thread (and it was suggested I ask here): are "spell attacks" spells for purposes of counterspelling (or I guess anything else that differentiates between "spells" and not-spell magic)? Does it say anywhere in the book? Thanks.

"Spell Attacks" are just as poorly named as "Weapon Attacks", in that you can perform either without casting a spell or using a weapon respectively.

There is nowhere in this book where it differentiates between spells and non-spell magic. Heck, the only place that covers what a spell is (and by exclusion, what a spell is not) is Chapter 10 of the PHB.